Hey, don't freak out or anything, but Bill Gates thinks there is a new flu epidemiclurking just around the corner and we are woefully unprepared for it. The billionaire philanthropist warned Friday that there is a “significant probability of a large and lethal modern-day pandemic occurring in our lifetimes.”.

Another pandemic is likely, it is a question of "which virus?" Influenza is always a safe bet, as we've already had numerous pandemics including the 1918 Spanish Flu. However, we are getting closer to a universal vaccine for flu, so hopefully all orthomixoviridae will be off the potential list of pandemic agents.

There is a broad range of potential pandemic viruses....many of which are hosted by bats! An emerging corona virus (similar to SARS and MERS) would be a strong candidate, since there is no vaccine available. The world dodged a big bullet with SARS!

Other candidates include Nipah, a bat-virus that has cropped up in Indonesia....filoviruses like Ebola, which are endemic in many African animals....and stuff undiscovered/unforeseen.

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